Wednesday, June 06, 2012

In the following video, young women in the Swiss city of Basel are interviewed about their concerns over the recent wave of gang rapes in the city. As in so many similar MSM stories, the possible role played by cultural enrichment in the increased number of rapes is not mentioned, nor even hinted at.

I have no idea what the incidence of immigrant crime might be in Basel — maybe our Swiss readers can supply some statistics.

Many thanks to Michael Laudahn for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

A full transcript is below the jump:

00:00

In recent weeks, a lot of rapes have taken place in Basel. How do you feel now when you move around Basel?

00:07

Honestly, I feel rather insecure, especially when going out,

00:13

so I always try to be there where there are many people,

00:15

and really try to avoid unfamiliar places where someone might stand,

00:21

so yes, I do have some fear.

00:23

I feel, honestly speaking, um, I'm never sure where I should go,

00:29

because the rapes have taken place not far from my business.

00:33

We just can no longer go out, that's the bad thing, I would say.

00:37

Well, I feel quite insecure when I'm outside alone,

00:41

when I'm with colleagues it's different,

00:42

then I know someone is near who could help me,

00:47

but all on my own, I would not dare to go out at night.

00:52

I sure am afraid to some degree, when I return home late from going out, I ride home rather quickly on my bike. It's become worse.

00:59

Have you yourself also been in a situation where you didn't feel well, maybe because someone stared at you, or...?

01:06

Yes, several times, but I just left quickly.

01:11

There were also cases when I was riding the tram and got molested,

01:16

best is not to say anything, because as a woman, against 3 or 4 men there is nothing you can do.

01:20

I start to find it trivial that we even in Switzerland don't have the freedom to move anymore. Bad.

01:28

It's just the entire environment. I don't really feel so good in Basel.

01:35

Would it be a reason for you to stay home if you knew you would have to return on your own?

01:41

Definitely. I often make sure that all we colleagues go home together,

01:46

otherwise I make sure to get to town by car, thereby I avoid having to walk alone to the tram.

01:54

I wouldn't go down to the Rhine river [which runs through Basel] even if people were with me,

02:01

just as a general rule, you shouldn't be around all on your own.

02:05

Or if you are where there aren't many people - you just shouldn't be around alone.

02:10

I would probably reflect thoroughly what way to take home,

02:14

but this may not protect me either.

02:16

Maybe when we read such things we probably start worrying.

02:21

It probably also plays a part how we arrange things, if we are around alone,

02:27

make sure that you are in company when going out, especially during the night.

02:32

Maybe self-conscience would eradicate,

02:36

or maybe if we knew we could defend ourselves,

02:39

maybe this would help,

02:41

but if we then end up in such a situation, I don't know if we could implement what we have learned.

02:48

If one is targeting you, you have no chance - no matter what clothes you wear.

It's just a little cultural diversity. Sure, we don't consider rape is a positive cultural value but other societies do. Who are we to say we are right and they are wrong? Can a multi-kulturalist even consider that idea?

Depends from where you are. I am from NE Bavaria (SE Germany) and not used to listen to ``Switzerdütsch'' but could understand the major part at first hearing. The hard one is the women with hair down to the eyes. Germans from the SW will have less difficulties: their language comes also from the Suebian Germanic tribes.

My feeling is, Switzerdütsch is no more different from Hochdeutsch than other German dialects within borders of modern Germany; in my opinion the extrema are reached in Plattdeutsch --- the dialect from Northern Germany --- and Bavarian.

Want to add that there is not strictly ``the Bavarian dialect'' but the trained ear can hear from where people are with an accuracy of 20 or 50 kilometers --- if the other one is a pure speaker, i.e. has lived most of their live in the same, rural region among natives. Same in other parts of Germany AFAIK.

An Anecdote:

During my time at university in Southern Germany, I gave a few lectures on a special topic of Mathematical Physics on behalf of my professor. After the first few sentences a tall, blonde girl with the accent of the ``Waterkant'' --- the northern edge of Germany --- raised her arm and asked me, wether I please could speak Hochdeutsch. Hmm! (Many Germans speak Hochdeutsch with an accent that makes it possible to recognize from where they originate.)

W/o intermediate Hochdeutsch, Germans from the North and South could hardly communicate. Fascinating how you can see the borders among Germanic tribes 1500 years ago.

Notes: 1. BS stands for (the canton of) Basel Stadt2. BS is basically only the City of Basel. This therefore excludes the Swiss suburbs in Basel Land (BL), Aargau (AG) (among others), the German ones like Lörrach and the French ones like Hunigue.

3. As you already have reported several times there is a crime wave in Switzerland since the Arab Spring started. Of course this is a absolute coincidence.

4. Officially foreigners are about 25 % of the BS population. This excludes the so called paper Swiss.

5. In the chemical and pharmaceutical companies, which keep the area financially afloat, about 30 % of the workforce each are either German or French. I'd say about 10 to 20 % are Swiss. The rest is from anywhere on this planet (Americans, British, Indians, etc.).

I used to live in Basel in 2002 and 2004. At the time I found the city be really quiet and safe. It feels strange to see the familiar places (I lived just a few block from the place where the video was filmed) and hear that people are talking such things.